Russia and China Will Sue Google and Facebook Because of Cryptocurrency Advertising Ban

Published on18 Apr. 2018

The blockchain associations of Russia and China are displeased by the prohibition of Google, Twitter, Facebook, Yandex to advertise cryptocurrencies and ICO on their platforms. They’ve decided to file a suit for, in their opinion, cartel plot aimed at regulating the cryptocurrency market.

The Russian Association of cryptocurrencies and blockchain (RAKIB), together with similar organizations of China and South Korea, plan to file a corporate suit against Google, Twitter, Facebook, and Yandex for the denial to place the cryptocurrency and ICO ads. Yurii Pripachkin, the president of RAKIB, told about such decision on the Congress “Blockchain RF-2018,” reports RBK.

We are going to file a collective suit from the crypto industries of China, Korea, and Russia against four companies simultaneously: Google, Facebook, Yandex, and Twitter, for the intention to limit the advertising of the cryptocurrencies,

- Pripachkin said.

They plan to sue in the USA court, where the companies are registered, referring to the fact that the American legislation is quite serious about the limitation of freedom of the entrepreneurship. So the head of the association believes they have pretty solid perspectives.

We think this is a cartel plot between these organizations, and it is aimed at regulating the market in the interests of the shareholders and the management of these companies. The ban has already caused the drop in market value for tens of billions of dollars. For example, Twitter itself gathers money for its ICO, at the same time deciding on limiting the advertising of other currencies, which is unacceptable,

- the head of RAKIB adds.

According to Pripachkin words, the collective suit can be filed on behalf of the association as the legal entity, as well as on behalf of the separate companies in the association. They plan to direct a suit to the court in May this year.

At the end of January, Facebook has announced the ban of all messages about ICO and cryptocurrencies. They will be considered “financial products and services, connected to the hypocritical or deceptive advertising practices.”

Google has announced that it would prohibit online advertising that promotes any content connected to the cryptocurrencies from June 2018, as a part of its latest financial services policy. Also, Twitter has publicly announced that it is introducing a prohibition of the cryptocurrency advertising, including ICO, and will be using stricter measures to reduce fraudulent practices and improve users’ safety.

The announcement of Pripachkin about the Chinese claimants sounds strange since China has a similar prohibition on cryptocurrency and ICO advertising. Yesterday, we wrote that the platform Taobao, called the Chinese eBay, forbade cryptocurrencies, ICO, and other services connected to the digital currencies. Even earlier, cryptocurrency ads disappeared from the pages of Chinese social networks.